The present invention relates to protective headgear, and more particularly to pads for such headgear.
Before the present invention, protective pads have been proposed for use in headgear, such as football helmets, to prevent harm to the wearer's jaws during use of the helmets. In one form, such protective pads have been constructed from an inner pad which is located between two sheets of leather, with the sheets being sewn together along their sides. In an alternative form, the inner pad has been retained between two plastic sheets which are sealed together at their edges. However, in both cases the sheets do not readily conform to the shape of the inner pad resulting in a relatively unsightly protective pad which assumes a sausage-like configuration. The sheets either cover the inner pad too loosely or too tightly, and, in the latter case, undue stress is placed against the sheets by the inner pad, particularly during use of the helmet, resulting in seam splitting of the sheets. Moreover, such sheets are not sufficiently soft and conformable to provide the desired comfort for the wearer's skin, and the pads are relatively complicated in structure, thus adding to the cost of the pad and the headgear to the consumer.